STUDY: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES BENEFIT FROM TOURISM

According to a German industry study, emerging and developing countries greatly benefit from tourists. With expenses of 13.5 billion Euros, German tourists directly created jobs for 738,000 people, stated the study presented by the German tourism industry association at the “Tourismusgipfel” in Berlin on Oct 12.

The industry association comes to the conclusion that the German administration needs to put stronger focus on tourism as part of development assistances. However, in development sciences, the effects of tourism on the economy of poor countries is still heavily debated.

In an interview with the German press agency dpa, tourism researcher Dirk Reiser remained skeptic. Especially with package tourism, only a small part of the money brought in by tourists remains in the respective region. Most jobs for inhabitants would amount to simple services such as housekeeping, while management remained in the hands of foreigners. “Revenue should not flow in only a single direction,” the Professor for sustainable tourism management admonished.

He also warned that countries depend on tourism too much and in turn let their original industry wither. Countries such as Egypt and Tunisia for example suffered massive economic difficulties after terror attacks, which led to a sudden lack in tourists.

According to the study, in 2012, 11.2 million Germans spent their vacation in developing and emerging countries such as Egypt, Kenya, Thailand, Vietnam and Mexico. A direct correlation was found between rising guest arrivals and an improvement in water and energy supply as well as literacy rate. The authors remark that reciprocity and other causes were not out of the picture, though.